I’m having a hard time scheduling my classes and maximising my allowed credit hours. Most of my courses are still prerequisite or semester locked, so I have 1-2 more courses up for grabs. I’m trying to build up a minor with these spare credit hours but all the courses I eye happen to overlap with my other classes’ timeslots. I’m checking back at these same courses from prior semesters and surprise, surprise, they had the same timeslots then too.
This is ridiculous, the minors themselves have prerequisites before attempting higher course levels, but all the intro classes share the same time slot, this semester, last semester and even before. It’s not even about registering late, the classes that are all booked up had the same bloody timeslots too. A lot of money is being put into this and if I can’t maximise my credit hours, I’m wasting money by an hourly rate.
I doubt any amount of complaining can materialise a new class for me, and I definitely don’t want to toss on “Folk Music Fishing” or some other niche course just to pretend I got my tuition fee’s worth. I’m wondering if I can just sign on to overlapping classes and selectively show up for one or the other, betting on one of the professors being the missable lecture type.
I definitely understand your frustration in the way the scheduling can bottleneck your progress.
I agree with @CheddarcheeseMN in that you may just need to drop the pursuit of that particular minor and either pursue a different minor that fits into your schedule or drop a minor all together. Your priority should be to your major courses. Sure, it’s nice to have a minor, but you can try to take some courses that don’t have prerequisites that you can still get something out of. Maybe some more interesting or unique courses that can come up in conversation or that employers can ask about if they look at your transcript? For example, I’m taking bowling and wine appreciation this coming (final) semester. Those don’t count for any major, but if I meet people who bring either bowling or wine up in conversation then I can share in their interest. I understand that you don’t want to plunk down on “Folklore in Pop-culture of scuba diving basket-weaving” type courses, but hopefully you can find some personal interest courses that you feel you’d get your time and moneys worth from.
I work as an Academic Adviser and students always seem to choose minor that are very similar to their majors. Mostly because it’s easy to complete as many courses overlap. I usually advise my students to choose minors or electives completely unrelated to their major. It helps to set them apart from other job candidates in their major and introduces them to new areas and builds unique skills. Intro classes in accounting, economics, computer programming, management, graphic design, for example will never be wasted.